New Delhi: The Supreme Court has imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on the states for failing to file a counter affidavit in the suo moto matter regarding protection and security to judicial officers. The decision comes in the wake of a SC hearing on the Suo moto case related to recent killing of an Additional District Judge in Dhanbad, Jharkhand.
A bench comprising of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Aniruddha Bose had sought the central governments' and states governments' response on what has been done for the security of judicial officers in the wake of a Dhanbad judge's murder for denying bail to a gangster. Though, the Centre filed its response, some states had failed to do so. An SC bench led by the Chief Justice of India told the Centre that it is not possible to have a dedicated national level security force, similar to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) or Railway Protection Force (RPF) for the safety and security of judges and courts.
Read: Judge Uttam Anand death: CBI sleuths recreate crime scene, use tech to unearth truth
Reacting to Supreme Court, Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta stated that the state police will be in a better position to deal with the protection of judges and courts as the threats will be 'state-specific'. "The security of courts is better left to states, as it requires day to day coordination with the local police. From coordination point of view, deployment of local police is advisable. There can be state specific issues. The state police is better equipped to deal with surveillance off criminals, intelligence regarding threat etc. It has to be state specific instead of country specific", the SG said.
The Court also ordered all registrar generals of the High Courts to submit a report on the security situation and listed the matter for hearing again after 10 days.
Read: Judge Uttam Anand death: CBI sleuths recreate crime scene, use tech to unearth truth
It may be recalled that on July 28, Judge Uttam Anand was out on a morning walk. It was believed that he was hit by an unknown vehicle during the course of his walk leading to his death. However, on the same day, a CCTV video went viral, in which it was clearly shown that people were sitting in an auto that went sideways in a suspicious state and hit Judge Uttam Anand. After the incident, an FIR was lodged against an unknown auto driver at Dhanbad's Sadar police station on the basis of the statement of the wife of the judge. After the FIR was registered for a murder case, an SIT was constituted under the leadership of ADG Operations Sanjay Anand Lathkar on the instructions of the state police headquarters.
However, the SIT had not found any evidence related to a planned murder in the investigation so far. At the same time, the Supreme Court and the High Court have also taken cognizance of this matter. The Jharkhand High Court is monitoring the matter. On July 30, the Jharkhand government had recommended a CBI probe and the investigation of which is currently underway.
